Guards Taser man who had performed as clown
11-17-2007 Illinois:
SPRINGFIELD - Accused sex offender A. Paul Carlock, who performed for children as Klutzo the Clown, died Friday morning at St. John's Hospital following a struggle with Sangamon County jailers.
Officials first described the death as the result of an undetermined medical problem.
However, Sangamon County Chief Deputy Tony Sacco said Friday afternoon that Carlock began experiencing problems after a struggle with correctional officers in which he was subdued with a Taser.
Sacco said he didn't receive a report on the incident from the jail until the afternoon, and neither did the U.S. Marshals Service. Carlock was being held on federal charges.
The report indicates corrections officers were in the midst of trying to get Carlock ready to go to St. John's Hospital to be checked because of recent erratic behavior.
Carlock resisted, Sacco said, when jailers tried to get him into a restraint chair. Carlock was wrestled to the ground, but continued to fight.
When he wouldn't cooperate, he was Tasered on the leg, Sacco said.
"The Taser had little effect, but did allow them to put the leg shackles on," Sacco said. "As they sat him up, they saw a change in his facial color."
Officials put ammonia under Carlock's nose to try to revive him, but then noticed a weak pulse and a change in his breathing, Sacco said.
An ambulance had been called earlier to handle the hospital transfer, but when Carlock's condition became obviously serious, jail officials asked that the ambulance respond faster, the report said.
Carlock died at St. John's Hospital.
"This all happened between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and at 9:28, we got a call that he'd passed away," Sacco said.
Bruce Harmening, U.S. Marshals Service supervisor in Springfield, said the marshal's office will investigate the death.
"We're going to be looking into this," Harmening said. "The main thing is to wait for the autopsy report."
The autopsy is scheduled for today, according to the coroner's office.
Carlock had been in the jail since his arrest Oct. 9 on charges of sex tourism and possession of child pornography.
Carlock originally was stopped by immigration agents at the San Francisco airport as he was returning from a trip to the Philippines in June. Travelers to the Philippines often are scrutinized because the nation has gained a reputation as a high-risk destination for child sex tourism.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Carlock said when stopped that he had been working as a clown at an orphanage in San Isidro.
Because he had had direct contact with children, the officers searched Carlock's digital camera and his computer and allegedly found numerous pictures of nude young boys. He also was accused of having had sexual contact with three of the boys.
Carlock had held a variety of jobs and did volunteer work over several decades in central Illinois. Many of those roles put him in contact with children.
In addition to performing as Klutzo, Carlock worked in at least two local daycare centers. He also entertained as a magician.
Carlock had been a police officer in Springfield and Grandview, at one time serving as a juvenile officer. He also had worked as a minister, a marriage and family counselor and for the state, including a job with the DuPage Boys School in Naperville. He had volunteered with the Boy Scouts and with Big Brother Big Sister.
Those agencies conducted background checks, but results were negative because Carlock had never been arrested until this year.
Carlock was moved to a padded cell in the county jail last month, reportedly after fighting with corrections officers. He had been Tasered twice during those incidents, according to previous reports.
The U.S. magistrate in charge of the case also had ordered Carlock's medicine to be monitored to prevent him from harming himself.
"There's no appearance that this happened because of injuries from a suicide attempt," Harmening said today. ..more.. by SARAH ANTONACCI, GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Carlock dies after struggle in jail
Jailers used Taser on alleged sex offender
11-17-2007 Illinois:
Accused sex offender A. Paul Carlock, who performed for children as Klutzo the Clown, died Friday morning at St. John's Hospital after struggling with Sangamon County jailers.
Initially, officials attributed his death to an undetermined medical problem.
About six hours later, Tony Sacco, chief deputy in the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office, said Carlock had begun experiencing problems after a struggle with correctional officers in which he was subdued with a Taser.
Sacco said he didn't receive a report on the incident from the jail until Friday afternoon, and neither did the U.S. marshal's office. Carlock was in jail awaiting disposition of federal charges of sex tourism - traveling to the Philippines to engage in sexual conduct with minors - and possession of child pornography.
The report indicates correctional officers were trying to get the 57-year-old Carlock ready to go St. John's to be checked because of recent erratic behavior. Carlock resisted, Sacco said, when jailers attempted to get him into a restraint chair. Carlock was wrestled to the ground but continued to fight.
When he wouldn't cooperate, a Taser stun gun was used on his leg, Sacco said.
"The Taser had little effect, but did allow them to put the leg shackles on," Sacco said. "As they sat him up,
they saw a change in his facial color."
Jailers put ammonia under his nose to try to revive Carlock, but then noticed a weak pulse and a change in his breathing.
An ambulance had been called earlier to handle the hospital transfer, but when Carlock's condition became obviously serious, jail officials ask that the ambulance respond faster.
Carlock died at St. John's.
"This all happened between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and at 9:28, we got a call that he'd passed away," Sacco said.
An autopsy is planned today, and Bruce Harmening, a supervisor for the U.S. marshal's office in Springfield, said the marshal's office will investigate the death.
"We're going to be looking into this," he said. "The main thing is to wait for the autopsy report."
The sheriff's office opened its own investigation Friday afternoon, Sacco said. One issue to be examined is how Carlock was shocked with the Taser, which shoots electrically charged darts that carry 50,000 volts for several seconds.
People hit are overwhelmed by the electric current and temporarily immobilized.
The correctional officer's report indicates he shot the probes into Carlock's leg from a distance. However, information downloaded from the Taser indicates it was pressed up against Carlock's leg in what's called a "drive stun" and deployed next to the skin.
"I think the (correctional officers) sometimes get screwed up on the terminology," Sacco said.
Carlock, of the 2300 block of Hedge Lane, had been in the jail since his arrest Oct. 9. On Oct. 18, jail officers twice used a Taser on Carlock when he allegedly was uncooperative and combative.
The first incident occurred when he became angry after being refused use of the phone, authorities said. The second occurred that evening, after Carlock allegedly began screaming and pounding on the window of his cell again.
Carlock was stopped by immigration agents at the San Francisco airport as he was returning from a trip to the Philippines in June. Travelers to the Philippines often are scrutinized because the country has gained a reputation as a high-risk destination for child sex tourism.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Carlock said when stopped that he had been working as a clown at an orphanage in San Isidro.
Because he had had direct contact with children, the agents searched Carlock's digital camera and his computer, allegedly finding numerous pictures of nude young boys. He also was accused of having had sexual contact with three of the boys.
Carlock had held a variety of jobs and did volunteer work over several decades in central Illinois, much of which put him in contact with children.
In addition to performing as Klutzo, he worked in at least two local day-care centers. He also entertained as a magician.
Carlock had been a police officer in Springfield and Grandview, at one time serving as a juvenile officer. He also had worked as a minister as a marriage and family counselor and for the state, including a job with the DuPage Boys School in Naperville. He had volunteered with the Boy Scouts and with Big Brother/Big Sister.
Those agencies conducted background checks, but results were negative because Carlock had never been arrested until this year.
Carlock was moved to a padded cell in the county jail after the earlier fights with corrections officers. The U.S. magistrate in charge of the case also had ordered Carlock's medicine to be monitored to prevent him from harming himself.
"There's no appearance that this happened because of injuries from a suicide attempt," Harmening said.
Sarah Antonacci can be reached at 788-1529 or sarah.antonacci@sj-r.com.
Chief deputy defends use of Tasers
Critics say police are often too quick to give shocks
By SARAH ANTONACCI, STAFF WRITER
Use of Tasers has reduced injuries to both personnel of the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office and to people deputies and jailers are trying to restrain, according to chief deputy Tony Sacco.
But at least one international organization contends that law enforcement has come to rely too much on Tasers, and that the shock devices can sometimes be dangerous and even deadly.
"Tense situations is when they are used," noted Sacco.
Sangamon County has been using Tasers for about three years in various situations. Sacco said court security officers use them in courtrooms when defendants or others get out of control. Deputies use them on the streets rather than fighting. And corrections officers use them in the jail.
"We want to use the least amount of physical contact we can for a person being arrested without causing injury to ourselves or the people we're attempting to take control of," he said.
"We were always having officers going hands-on with people they were trying to arrest. They'd end up with cut fingers, broken hands. There were worker's comp cases."
The people the sheriff's office comes into contact with generally suffer fewer injuries, too, Sacco said.
He said he is aware of cases in which people involved in confrontations with authorities have been stunned with Tasers and then died, including one in Chicago in 2005. But he said there often are other contributing factors, including pre-existing medical conditions or drug and alcohol use.
Dori Dinsmore, Midwest regional director for Amnesty International, said her organization has documented 288 cases since 2001 in which people have died after Tasers were used on them.
"I think this case exemplified one of the main problems with Tasers and Taser usage in general, and that is the issue of how police officers are deploying these as weapons," she said, referring to A. Paul Carlock, who died Friday after he was Tasered during a struggle with Sangamon County jailers.
"What we see in so many departments is police officers are using Tasers in situations when they'd never draw their guns," Dinsmore said.
Amnesty International supports the use of Tasers only as an alternative to lethal force, she added.
"Nobody really knows for sure what leads to the death of some people after being Tasered and not others," she said. "In situations like this, where the officers weren't intending to use deadly force, if they knew it was likely to have this adverse outcome, would they have used the weapon?"
The manufacturer, Taser International, on its Web site cites several studies that have shown Tasers to be safer to use than most traditional methods of force. ..more.. by Sarah Antonacci can be reached at 788-1529 or sarah.antonacci@sj-r.com.
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